Report: UT regent may have broken law

House panel appears willing to seek Hall's impeachment

In this July 10, 2013, file photo, Regent Wallace Hall, of Dallas, takes part in a University of Texas Regents meeting in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

In this July 10, 2013, file photo, Regent Wallace Hall, of Dallas,...

University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall likely committed impeachable offenses, including abusing his office and potentially breaking state and federal law, in his campaign to oust University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers, according to a draft report prepared for the Texas House committee investigating Hall's activities.

The 176-page report, which was made available to members of the House Select Committee on Transparency and State Agency Operations on Friday, alleges that Hall leaked confidential student information, in apparent violation of state and federal law, in an attempt to silence his critics in the Texas Legislature. It also accuses the regent of trying to manipulate the investigation and coerce witnesses.

The draft report may signal the committee's willingness to seek Hall's impeachment and opens a new chapter in a years-long power struggle pitting UT's flagship university and its supporters against Gov. Rick Perry and one of his major donors, Jeff Sandefer, a former adjunct professor at UT who observers believe is a major influence on Perry's appointments to state university systems' boards of regents.

Perry appointed Hall, a Dallas businessman, to the UT System board of regents in February 2011. He was one of Perry's two new appointees to the nine-person board that year. The two - Hall and Alex Cranberg - are believed to be hostile to Powers and supportive of Sandefer's plan to de-emphasize research at state universities.

Translator

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

A lawyer for Hall said the regent would not comment on the report until he reads it. At a public discussion last fall, Hall said, "I feel very comfortable with everything that I've done."

Leaked information

The draft report, prepared by the firm of the committee's special counsel, Houston lawyer Rusty Hardin, describes allegations that Hall leaked confidential student information and tried to silence critics as "particularly troubling and potentially criminal in nature," saying the leaks likely violated both the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and the Texas Public Information Act.

Hardin declined comment Monday.

"The criminal aspects of this are something we've got to look at," said state Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, a member of the committee who is reviewing the report. He added that he was encouraging the committee's co-chairman to release the draft report publicly, with the caveat that the draft is not the final work.

The leaked student information involved communications concerning applications of students to the university and its law school and their relationships to two lawmakers who have been vocal critics of regents seeking Powers' ouster.

The report also alleges Hall attempted to coerce UT administrators, including Powers, to alter their testimony to the committee: "[Hall] pressured UT System witnesses to alter testimony provided to the Committee; and he sought retaliatory employment action despite the Committee's express request that no such action be taken during the course of the investigation," the report states.

Additionally, the report alleges Hall abused his position by demanding overly burdensome records requests, which cost UT-Austin more than $1 million to comply with, bullying university administration staffers, undermining the university's public image and continuing to seek Powers' termination even though the committee had asked him and other regents to refrain from such activity.

Firestorm erupted

Controversy first enveloped the Board of Regents in 2011, after it brought on a Sandefer associate, Rick O'Donnell, who wrote a white paper largely dismissing the value of academic research, as a "special adviser." The resulting firestorm forced O'Donnell from the job just six weeks after he had been hired.

The regents returned to the center of attention again in the 2013 legislative session. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst led an emotional outpouring of support for Powers in a February speech in which he cited anonymous letters attacking the university president and said he was troubled to see regents "trying to micromanage the system."

A few months later, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, ordered the Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations to investigate Hall's conduct.

Spokespersons for the University of Texas-Austin and the entire University of Texas System declined comment Monday, saying officials had not seen the report.

A spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry also declined comment, saying it would be premature.

"Speaker Straus is aware that the special counsel's draft report raises serious, unsettling questions about the impact of Regent Hall's conduct on the UT System," said Erin Daly, a spokeswoman for Straus, R-San Antonio, in a written statement. "He is confident that the committee will continue to act in the best interest of the UT System and Texas taxpayers as it carries out this important charge."

Jenifer Sarver, spokeswoman for the Texas Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education, a group aiming to guard against perceived political interference in state universities, said she could not comment on the specifics of the committee's draft, but added, "I'm hopeful that the final product is something that provides the committee and the Legislature something to work with in regard to taking some necessary steps to stop the kind of behavior we've been seeing from Regent Hall."

Committee member Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, said the committee likely would meet later this month.

Potential violations

The draft report determined that Hall likely violated the federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and the Texas Public Information Act by providing confidential documents that discussed UT-Austin student admissions to the Texas Attorney General's office and his private attorneys. The content of the emails also later appeared in news stories about the fight between Hall and the UT administration.

A regent should be gathering information about the university to help manage it, said Steven Goodman at Top College, a Washington-based college consulting firm. Goodman said.

"This is a wild case," Goodman said. "Is it unreasonable for a trustee to request information? I think the arrow points toward the trustee in that case. He's a trustee of the university, he's supposed to have oversight," Goodman said. "I think the arrow points the other way for sharing that information."

The report includes emails sent by Hall where he does little to hide his disapproval of Powers. In one described in the report, Hall tells the Board of Regents that "they were being 'held hostage by terrorists' and that firing Powers would only result in a 'two week' reaction that could easily be overcome."